Polka Dots and Ribbons
by Falaphesian
Summary: RikuSora AU. Sora doesn't realize he's made the biggest mistake of his life until after he's already made it. Though he can't go back in time, he can still try and fix things... Now finished! ..I think.
1. Strike One

Well here goes nothing.  The title... will probably take a while to make sense, and you all should probably know that this is my very first fanfic.  Yep, my very first, my baby, so to speak.  I was really hesitant to write anything at all in the beginning, so buckets of thanks goes to out to Connie and my sister for shoving me into this situation in the first place.  ...At least, I think I thank them.  We'll just have to see, won't we?  XP

            The basic reel of "these characters aren't mine."  Well, duh, they aren't.  That honor actually belongs to Disney and Square (Enix now, isn't it?).  ^^  I'm sure we all wish Sora and Riku were our own, of course.  But anyway, I have no rights to the characters or to anything Kingdom Hearts related.  Don't sue me... That wouldn't be too good, seeing as I spend most of my money on... hey, where exactly does it all go anyway? Oh well.

            Here's the first chapter of the fic, so let's see if I can navigate myself in the right direction here...  

.

**Polka Dots and Ribbons - **'Strike One.'         

Sand was everywhere.  It wasn't even happy with staying on the ground, but naturally it seemed to _want_ to wriggle its way into Sora's shoes, eventually forcing the boy to pause his long walk along the shore.

            _ Pulling one foot off the ground, the boy gritted his teeth and jerked the shoe off, losing his own balance in the process and tipping right over into the sand. _

The near violent coughing which ensued eventually subsided, leaving Sora with only the foul aftertaste a mouthful of sand tends to leave.  Closing his eyes, Sora no longer cared that he could feel the heat of the sun and sand combined burning into his already tan skin.  It didn't really feel that bad... it was almost something close to soothing, but still far from it.  Nor did he care that the fine sand was now happily situated amongst his messy brown spikes of hair.  No, Sora didn't even seem to notice it even when someone started walking towards him across the sand.  Or even when that someone was hovering only four inches from his face.  

_Finally, there you are Sora!  _Riku had been looking all over for the boy, though now that he'd found him lazing around on the beach, Riku supposed he should have checked here first anyway.  It wasn't uncommon for Sora to spend his afternoons sleeping on the beach, seeing as his mother would usually nag him about being lazy all the time if he was constantly sleeping around the house.  But it wasn't like Riku came out here just to see Sora snore away in the sand.  ...Although the sight wasn't exactly a bad thing.

Lulled into a half-sleep state, the only thing that brought Sora back was the soft chuckle from the person above him.  

Eyes shooting open, Sora shot up from his relaxed position in the sand, only to send his forehead cracking painfully into none other then ...

"Riku!" Sora whined plaintively as his clutched his throbbing (and surely bruised) forehead with both hands, tugging his knees up to his chin protectively.

"Ow!  Jeeze, Sora!  What've you got in there, bricks?"  Even Riku seemed slightly pained by their abrupt collision, though the older boy hardly ever showed any weakness of any kind.  Especially not physical pain.  Riku prided himself in his physical condition and would probably dub himself the next Achilles, were it not for the occasional reminders given to him.  Such as Sora's own clumsiness, Sora's glomp attacks, and Sora's blitzball skills, if one could really call them that even.  No, Riku was far, far, from invincible.

Sliding his hand past his forehead, Riku gently guided his fingers through his silver hair, green eyes studying Sora pointedly.  "So what's got you so bent out of shape you'd miss lunch?  I swung by your house earlier today trying to catch you, but your mom said you never showed up."  Missing lunch was definitely not Sora-like at all.  Not to mention the fact that if Sora was grumpy due to lack of food, it might not be wise of Riku to actually mention why it _was_ that Riku had been trying to get a hold of Sora all day.  Though finally having a moment with Sora, and Sora alone at that, Riku didn't want to really bring up such a thing at a bad time.

Before Sora could respond or even get up out of the sand, Riku plopped down next to his friend, wrapping a well-toned arm around the smaller boy and tugging him closer, ruffling his hair with his other hand.  "You can tell Ri-ku!  Is Sora having some problems with the birds and the bees?  Does he need my wise advice?  Is _that it, Sora?"  Okay, so from anyone else's point of view, teasing the life out of the poor boy wouldn't seem like a sure fire way of cheer him up, but Riku knew that joking around with Sora always pulled him out of these moody phases.  Eventually._

"Aw, cut it out, Riku!" Sora growled, though like everything else about the boy, it wasn't threatening.  Riku smirked.  Yep, Sora was about as menacing as a stuffed bear.

Bottom lip sticking out ever so slightly into his best pout, Sora rested his elbows on his knees. Well, Riku couldn't remember the last time stuffed bears could master a pout quite like that one, but if they _could_-- 

"Life blows."

Riku raised a silver eyebrow and grinned.  "Does it now?  Well that's pretty interesting... I thought last time you said it sucked.  Life has many, many skills, ne?"

Sora was silent in response and Riku's eyes softened.  "Really, Sora, what's wrong?"  Riku leaned forward to get a better look at the boy's face, his arm still wrapped around Sora's shoulders.  Brilliant blue eyes blinked owlishly back at him from under brown bangs and... And instantly Riku knew.

"_Now!"_

Sora ducked and rolled off to the side just as a barrage of water balloons flew out of the nearby underbrush.  Yelping as the balloons burst, water spraying everywhere, Riku clambered to his feet and wheeled around to face his attackers.  Honestly, he was almost seventeen now!  Riku was more then sure that he was just a little beyond these crazy games between them all.

The familiar faces of Tidus and Selphie peered at his from over the bushes, both of them sporting the evil grin which just flat out says, "I won, you lost.  You think you'd know by now."  But Riku never learned.  At least, not when it came to their tactics of surprise water balloon launches.  Which were _still dragging on, even after ten years of the same old games and pranks._

Sora, meanwhile, had pulled himself up from the sand several feet out of the balloons' target zone and was finding it hard to talk around his own laughter as he stumbled towards Riku.

"Aww, Riku... You .... shoulda seen.... your face!"  Sora finally reached his friend, but could no longer help from bursting into another fit of laughter upon seeing Riku, soaking wet and seemingly very, _very_ aggravated.  But of course, Sora knew Riku wouldn't stay mad that long at all.  He never did.

And Riku didn't.  With a sigh of defeat, he looked down to study his sopping wet torso and groaned.  "I can't believe it..."

"No kidding!  I can't believe you fell for it _again!  Every time!"  Selphie giggled and promptly began amusing herself by tossing a water balloon back and forth between her hands.  It was standard Selphie nature for her to switch gears so suddenly.  After all, she did have the attention span of a flea._

Tidus and Selphie, seeing their mission of the day as complete, turned to take their leave, but not after Selphie had accidentally dropped the water balloon, causing them to both get sopping wet.  Neither seemed to mind though.  The island could really get to cooking its poor residents when it wanted to, and this summer, though it had really only just begun, was already showing signs of being a brutally hot one.

Turning away from them, Rikku placed his hands on his hips and addressed the still snickering spiky haired boy in front of him.  "You moron, I can't believe you'd still do that to me..."  His attention momentarily turned from the boy to the slowly setting sun behind him, a small smile spreading across his lips.  Chocolate brown hair set aflame from the fading sunlight, Sora's small body cast a surprisingly long narrow shadow across the white sand.  Even--

Well, some moments end too soon.

Furrowing his brows together, Sora cocked his head to the side and peered up at his friend.  "You're not mad... are you, Riku?"  Before he even gave the poor boy a chance to respond, Sora launched himself at his friend, catching him in a nearly suffocating bear hug, mumbling something that vaguely sounded like, "I'msorryRikuIhopeyou'renotmaditwasn'tthatbigadeeeal!  Can you eeever forgiiiiive me?" against Riku's shirt.

The older boy nearly tipped over backwards in surprise and was thankful that no one was around to see the pink tinge on his face which seemingly crept up out of nowhere.  _Stupid Sora!  Why do you always have to do this?_  Prying the younger boy off of him, trying not to seem reluctant about the process, Riku grinned down at him.  "Nah, it was a nice way to cool off anyway.  But don't you think we're, ah, getting a little old for it?"

Sora chewed his bottom lip a moment, deep in thought, before opening his mouth, beaming up at Riku.  "No way.  It's just like cake.  You can't outgrow cake, you can't outgrow water balloon fights.  Pajamas with feet, yeah, okay, those you can outgrow, but not cake.  ...Err, I mean, water balloons."

Riku chuckled and gently tousled Sora's hair, making it more messy then it already was and flinging sand everywhere.  "And Sora's one track mind kicks in again.  Come on, let's go get some food.  Heh, think your mom'll still have enough for me?"

Sora rolled his eyes and began the walk back to town, tagging along beside his friend.  "Riku.  She always makes enough to feed the entire town because she's always hoping you'll come over for dinner."  Riku grinned at this and looked down at Sora. 

"No problems then?"

"Notta."

"Cool."

_If I say something now... there's still time.  But the whole water balloon thing sorta ruined the moment.  If there ever was a moment.  _The two were silent for a few moments before Sora finally looked back up at Riku.  "Oh, about what you said earlier... you know, about giving me advice?"

Riku's eyes lit up and he prodded Sora's ribs playfully.  "Haha!  I knew it.  Okay Sooora, what's the problem?  I'm dying to help as always."

Sora scowled at shoved Riku back.  "Hey!  Cut it out!  And you are _not_ always helping!  You never do!"

"Not my fault you've got a pudgy figure."

"I am **not pudgy!"**

"You're right, you're pleasantly plump.  God, Sora, you've got such a strong self image.  I wish some of your confidence could someday rub off on shy, self conscious little-- Ack!"

Sora easily tipped Rikku over into the sand and was completely merciless in his brutal tickling of his friend.  "Take it back, Riku!  I'm _not_ pudgy!"  Completely unaware of their current position, Sora didn't even realize he was practically straddling his best friend during his onslaught of deadly tickling.

Gasping for breath between fits of laughter, Riku was able to manage to yelp, "Okay, okay!" causing Sora to pause his attack and listen.

Taking a deep breath, Riku opened his mouth to apologize.  _Oh.  And suddenly Riku felt more inclined to just not say anything and stay like he was forever.  Though perhaps if he were in Sora's place and Sora..._

"...Riku?  Hey, earth to Riku!  Now's the part where you say 'I'm so sorry Sora, you have major muscles and no pudge whatsoever!  Forgive me, kind Sora, please forgive me!'"

"You're right Sora.  I was just joking.  You're not pudgy.  You've got an awesome body."  _No, you probably won't even get **that** blatant of a hint, will you, Sora?_ Riku wasn't too worried about it much.  It wasn't as if he hadn't hinted this at Sora multiple times before.  Sora just didn't get it.

Sora raised an eyebrow at his friend's sincerity.  "Eh?"

No, Sora _never got it._

"Hey!  I'm not kidding! I lo...  You're cute Sora."  Riku grinned and shoved his friend off of him, standing up and dusting the sand off his back with both hands.  Still looking down at his younger friend, Riku smirked.  "You don't have to worry about it."

Sora made a face, though it wasn't because he again found himself in the sand.  "I'm _cute_?"

"Yep."

"Why am I always cute?"

"You just are."

Sora laughed and pulled himself up from the sand.  "Aww, does widdle Wiku think Sowa's cuuuute?"

"Yep."

"How about sexy?  Why can't I be sexy too?"

"Mm, you're more along the lines of cute.  But you're totally sexy too now I that I think about it."

Sora shoved Riku as he neared the older boy, rolling his eyes.  "Haha, Riku, funny.  Reeeal funny."

_I can't believe he doesn't get it._  Riku forced a halfhearted grin onto his face.  "Hey, I'll race you to your house.  Or what, afraid your pudge can't take the heat?"

"**Riku!"  **

            "Ready, set, go!"

            Both boys shot off across the beach, sand spraying up behind them in their path.  Riku, being the more athletic of the two boys, naturally found no trouble in vaulting the over the side of a small dock, spinning on his heel and running along its worn wooden planks towards shore.

            "Giving up already, Sora?  I thought you were better then that!"  

            Sora gritted his teeth as he swung himself up onto the dock and darted after his friend.  Already, Riku had hopped off the edge of the dock and was headed towards the main road of the island town, throwing Sora a triumphant grin over his shoulder.  Each of them knew what the outcome of the race would be.  It was, of course, the same outcome it always was.  But that didn't stop Sora from making a last ditch effort, still the same as always.  And just like always, it didn't keep Riku from winning.

            Slowing to a jog as he reached his front door, Sora sure enough found Riku leaning casually against the doorframe, seemingly admiring his nails.  Looking up as Sora approached, Riku grinned and opened his mouth to no doubt proclaim his already obvious victory.

            "Ah, shut it, Riku.  Yeah, yeah, I know already, you _won._  Can we eat now?"

            And so ends chapter one!  In case you didn't understand why Riku had been hunting down Sora earlier, he had a very important question to ask him.  *cough cough*  Yeees.  The second chapter should be up soon, in which we'll witness strikes two and three, but don't think the game is over after all that!  Nope, I'm going for a happy ending.

            ...Yes, I know I talk babble.  Anyway, thank you very much for reading and suggestions and reviews would be really appreciated, since I have no one as a beta due to winter break traveling.  o_O  That's why the second chapter will be up so soon.  I have no life and no where to go.

            Oh, one last note, chapter two will probably be... ridiculously long.  =__=  I was going to split it up into two chapters, but then those two chapters would simply be two short, so instead I'm combining them into one.  Thanks again for reading!

~Ori


	2. Strikes Two and Three

Aaaand I'm back and no later then I'd promised even!  Actually, I think I'm updating this thing quite early.  Eh hem.  At any rate, I pour my heart and soul out to those of you who reviewed.  Thank you **so much, you guys really made my day!  Special thanks to Aydee for the helpful comments.  ^^  They were much appreciated, and yes, it is my first fic.  I also got a question about what Ori stands for.  The truth of the matter is... I really don't know.  It just sounds fun.  So you can make something up for it to stand for if you'd like.  "Orlando Ravishes.. er... Iggy."  Or even better, "Orange-Raping-Iguana."  Yep.  That's what I am.  An O.r.i.  *twitch*  **

In this chapter, as I mentioned earlier, you'll see strikes two and three of Riku's attempts at telling Sora (stupid stupid boy) how he feels.  Rules of baseball, one, two three... I'm sure you all understand.  -___-  Or perhaps I just need more sleep.  (The O.r.i.'s I made up are purely from it now being... 4:26 in the morning.)

Oh yes, and the ribbons begin to come in to play here.  Pay close attention.  It's one of the few plot elements I've got going for me. ...No, the ribbons are not for bondage.  T__T  Erg.  

As always Kingdom Hearts and all its characters = not mine.  Nonetheless, enjoy!

.............................................................................

**Polka Dots and Ribbons - **'Strikes Two and Three'

            The mutual competition never ceased between Sora and Riku.  Once one thing was over, they moved onto another, and neither of them could make it through Sora's front door before initiating a vicious tickling match.  Riku, of course, didn't exactly mind.

            "Mo-om!  Riku's trying to molest me!"

            "I am _not!"_

            Riku skidded to a halt in the living room, Sora slamming right into his friend before falling onto the floor with a loud 'thud'.  

            Sora's mother gave Riku a warm welcoming smile and blinked at her son, who had yet to pull himself off the living room floor and stop scaring her poor customer.  "Sora, get up.  Can't you see I'm working?  And Riku is _not_ trying to molest you."  She opened her mouth to continue, then seemed to think better of it and closed it again.

            Armed with scissors and hairspray, Sora's mother ran a small in-home hair salon, though since it was one of the only ones the small island town had to offer, and since Bryna wasn't all that bad when it came to styling hair, she made a rather decent income.  Most of it, however, she friddled away on buying even _more supplies for her business, such as random wheels of ribbons the younger girls got for free.  Yes, Bryna was a sucker for any small girl who was admiring her new hair style in the mirror and who's face lit up when she was offered to select any kind of ribbon she wanted to put in her hair._

            Sora found it all quite sickening to say the least, and generally tried to stay as far away from his mothers 'work room' as humanly possible.

            Climbing to his feet, Sora mumbled and rubbed his hip from where it had greeted the thinly carpeted floor when he'd gone crashing down.  "Hey mom, is there any--"

            "If you're going to ask me if there's any food left over from lunch, which you missed, or dinner, which you _also_ missed, then yes, it's in the fridge.  Though I can hardly see why you'd want it anyway!  Oh, Sora, where did I go wrong with you?  Always out 'til who knows when, up to who _knows what...?"_

            "Thanks mom, love ya."

            "Yeah, yeah, Sora.  Go ahead and worm your way out of trouble.  You and Riku eat upstairs though, I've got some stuff all over the dining room table... Sorry, sweetie."

            Opening the refrigerator door, Sora raised an eyebrow and glanced over into the dining room, just for the sake of curiosity.  Sure enough, shopping bags were scattered across the large table, filled to the brim with the same old same old.  Hair supplies.  A shameful amount of hair supplies.  

            Deciding it would probably be best _not_ to mention the economy's never ending dependence on his mother, Sora plucked two sandwiches and a pair of cold sodas from the inside of the door, juggling the load in his arms and closing the refrigerator door with his hip.  Throughout the whole process, Sora never even noticed the small bemused smile on Riku's face and without a second thought promptly led the older boy upstairs to his room.  Granted, Riku probably could have gotten there with his eyes shut and hands tied behind his back.  It wasn't as though Riku hadn't spent nearly half his life over there anyway.    

            Shoving the door to his room open, Sora plopped down on his bed, happily opening the sandwich baggy and instantly tearing into its contents.  Riku couldn't help but roll his eyes as he made himself comfortable across from Sora on the bed.  Instantly, the voice in his mind leaped back into action.

            _Aha!  The perfect chance!  His mom'll probably be busy with customers for another hour or so and there's no one here but Sora and me... I can te--_

            "Sora, I need to..."  But Riku's voice trailed off as he looked up at the blue eyed boy across him.  Actually, Riku's voice could probably best be described best as trailing off into a small squeak.  

            One thing to understand about Sora is that when hungry, the boy will tear into food like there's no tomorrow, with generally little care for mannerisms.  So it was that a small dollop of mayonnaise was innocently enough to be found ringing Sora's lips as he swallowed one of the last bites of his chicken salad sandwich.  

            _Hm__.__  Mayonnaise.  White mayonnaise.  ...Gyah!  Damn my perverted mind!!_

"Mm?  What is it Riku?"  Sora's pink tongue glided out between his lips, cleaning them of the mayonnaise for good.  Unfortunately, it didn't exactly fix things for Riku's own mind...

            "I... was saying.... I need to tell your mom what a great job she did on these...sandwiches."  Riku struggled to pry his eyes away from Sora's mouth, desperately needing to focus on something else instead.  

            Sora blinked.  "Riku, you sure you're feelin' okay?  You've been acting...  Don't.  Move."

            "...Huh?"

            Another thing to understand about Sora is his low tolerance of spiders.  Any other kind of bug was alright, but spiders just generally **bothered** the boy, for reasons only he could ever possibly explain.  

            So it was that Riku was only half startled by the entire situation.  For starters, the boy wasn't at all surprise to shift his glance away from Sora, only to find a small spider dangling inches away from his face.  He _was however, slightly caught off guard as Sora lunged towards him, slapping the spider (whose life was quickly and painlessly over) between two hands.  Had the younger boy not had good depth perception and a lot of luck, it probably would have been Riku's face slapped between Sora's two hands.  As it was, Sora's depth perception and luck __weren't enough to keep him from colliding with Riku and sending both of them toppling over the edge of the bed, landing in a heap on the floor._

            Cough.  "Errrk... Soraaaa..."  Riku's voice was muffled, seeing as he'd definitely gotten the wind knocked out of him from that little trip to the floor.  It wasn't exactly as though Sora's bed was close to the ground to begin with, but Sora's body itself was also draped over Riku's chest, making it rather difficult for him to breathe at all.

            "Mm?"  Sora shifted around on top of Riku, peering over at his face.

            Gnawing his bottom lip to attempt to keep himself from doing anything stupid, Riku hesitated only a moment before shoving the spiky haired boy off him.  Granted, at any other time, Riku would have died from happiness right on the spot... But not right after the whole mayonnaise incident.  

            Shifting from his previous position on Sora's floor, Riku rubbed his back irritably.  "Jeeze, Sora, don't you ever clean this place?  Oww... What the hell did I land on?"

            A worn copy of Shakespeare's work, Romeo and Juliet, lay right where Riku had been moments ago.  Riku shot his friend a grin and scooped the book up into his hands, flipping through the heavily worded pages.  "Oooh, Sora?  A Shakespeare fan?  Why Sora, I never knew."

            Sora narrowed his eyes and took on a pouty look again, reaching for the book, only to have Riku snatch it just out of his grasp.  "Hey!  I never said I had anything against him!"

            "Yeah, I know, it just doesn't seem like you, is all."

            Finally getting a hold on the book, Sora tugged it out of Riku's grasp and tossed it onto the surface of his bed.  "Well then, maybe _you_ don't know everything about me."

            _Woah__, did **Sora** just say that?  Or maybe I somehow fell unconscious when I got knocked off the bed... That seems more likely then Sora reading Shakespeare, really.  And what does he mean, "You don't know everything about me...?"_

A shimmer of hope filled Riku's eyes and he glanced up at Sora.  Although he didn't quite feel lucky enough to shove his tongue down the younger boy's throat (surely **then** Sora would have to get the message), Riku could try once more...

            "Rikuuuu!  Your mom called!  She wants you to watch over your little sister for a couple hours tonight and needs you back home," Bryna called up from the foot of the stairs.

            Sora let out a long and aggravated sigh, looking over at Riku.  "Maaan, can't your sister take care of herself _yet_?"

            Riku smiled and ruffled Sora's hair on his way towards the boy's bedroom door.  "Sora, come on, she's only six."

            "Oh, right."

            As he thanked Sora's mom for the food and stepped outside onto the darkening street, Riku grinned to himself.  He wasn't _exactly sure of how to take all the things Sora had just said in his room, but if Sora could read Shakespeare, there was a good chance that Riku may indeed not know everything about his best friend.  Maybe Sora even... _

            Well, he hadn't gotten to ask Sora just yet.  He hadn't even gotten to bring up the topic.  But with renewed hope like that, Riku was willing to wait just a little longer for the opportune moment to come rolling around.

~~~

            Sora muttered darkly as he trudged outside with a trash bag several hours later.  His mom had probably cut one too many hairstyles that day and had fallen dead asleep on the couch downstairs.  Naturally, Sora felt sorry for his mother and decided to clean up her work area for her that night.  Okay, so it was more like it was Sora's job to take out the trash anyway.  He just added a few things from Bryna's makeshift salon to save his mother the trouble of throwing them out the next morning.  Glancing at his watch, Sora sleepily realized that 'the next morning' wasn't really more then twenty minutes away.

            Splat.

            Sora cursed and looked from his watch up towards the sky, realizing there wasn't a star in sight, all over them being covered with clouds.  More thick raindrops began to fall around him as Sora jogged the rest of the way down to the curb frantically searching around for the trash can in the dark.  Sora, or more appropriately, Sora's toe, found the side of the trash can (resulting in even more cursing), and the boy hurriedly tossed the bag inside just as the sky above him decided to give and let loose all of its summer rain.

            Soaked.  That was the only word possible to describe Sora.  In two seconds, his entire body was totally drenched.  The warm rain wouldn't have bothered Sora at all were it not for the fact that he was just _tired and didn't feel like going to sleep soaking wet.  _

            Sora yelped loudly as a hand suddenly descended on his shoulder, jumping a foot in the air and spinning around to face... Riku?

            Riku was barely visible through the downpour now surrounding him, but the snicker following Sora's surprised outburst definitely flagged the person down as Riku.  Wiping sopping wet bangs away from his eyes, Sora peered up at Riku, having to raise his voice to be heard above the falling rain.

            "What are you _doing_ here, Riku?  Jeeze, you think you could at least give me some warning or some--"  Sora went silent as he felt one of Riku's fingers pressed against his lips.  Not only was Sora surprised by Riku's sudden yet gentle action, but he was also equally surprised by the way his brain reacted and his heart speeded up to feel like it was running overtime.

            "I need to tell you something..."

            There was a long moment of silence between both of them, Sora's mind racing, trying to figure out what on earth it was that Riku could possibly have to say that would be so important.  The older boy had, after all, though it was _so_ important that he had to come all the way to Sora's house not only in the dark, but in the pouring rain as well.

            "I've sorta been trying to tell you all day...  Even weeks before now.  Heh, practically an entire two months, really.  You were always around someone else, like Selphie, Kairi, or Tidus...  Either that or whenever I _did get you alone, something would happen and it'd just... well, it'd ruin the moment.  Honestly Sora, I've been dropping as many stupid hints as I can, but you probably don't get it, huh?"  There was a tinge of sadness to Riku's voice that Sora _did _however pick up.  What could possibly be wrong?  _

           "I don't know if you could ever really think the same way, or even feel the same way... But..."  Sora heard Riku gulp, even over the dull roar of the rain hitting the ground around them.

            And suddenly Riku's mind went into a state of absolute panic.

            _What am I **doing here?  It's nearly _midnight_**__, Sora's already scared out of his mind because I surprised him so much by even showing up... He's completely lost and confused and doesn't even have the slightest idea what I'm talking about!  Hell, even **I don't know what I'm saying anymore!**_

"I... well..."

            "What is it, Riku?" Sora asked, looking pleadingly up at his friend.

            _Oh hell._

"Well, ah... you like me, right Sora?"

            This brought a small laugh from Sora before he got around to answering.  "Of course I like you Riku, you dork."

            "Well I... um... I don't _like_ you..."

            Sora's eyes widened and he almost felt like screaming.  Surely Riku wasn't mad about the whole water balloon thing??  Sora had even told Selphie and Tidus that Riku seemed kinda hurt the _last time they'd used Sora as bait to bombard their older friend with water balloons, but they didn't listen!  And now it looked like Riku _hated _Sora!_

            "I sort of... more then like you..."  Sora could hardly hear Riku over the rain now, but he still managed to hear _that.  Eyes widened, Sora also definitely felt Riku's arm encircle his waist, pulling him closer to the older boy.  After getting no verbal response from Sora, Riku assumed the stupid little boy _still_ didn't get it, so he gritted his teeth and winced before making another effort and declaring his feelings._

            "...I _love you, Sora."_

          That did it.  There was no way Sora could _not understand now.  But understanding was the entire problem, wasn't it?  What if Riku had completely misread Sora, and his best friend was simply disgusted with his feelings, not understanding Riku at all?  That thought alone was enough to again plunge Riku's mind into icy panic, though his body dimly realized that Sora was not only an ideal height for kissing (his lips weren't very far from his own, really), but the boy was also very warm and, well, comfortable.  Unlike the day's earlier events of having Sora landing on top of him from the fall off the bed._

            Sora jerked his head up to look into Riku's face, completely at a loss for what to say.  Could what Riku be saying _really be true?  But that would mean...  Riku would be..._

            Letting out a small gasp, Sora jerked away from Riku in surprise at the realization.  Riku was **gay**?  And what's more, Riku loved **_Sora_?  But why?  **

            Riku's eyes froze over, his heart feeling like it had just been ground to powder.  That was it, Riku had totally messed everything up.  Obviously Sora didn't harbor _any_ of those kinds of feelings towards Riku like he had been hoping for... Like he had dreamed of for so long.  And now everything just... hurt.

            _How could I have been so stupid?_

            Sora stepped away from his friend, still not breaking eye contact with him.  But Riku ended that abruptly.

            "You're--"  But Riku didn't let Sora finish.

            "I'm sorry, Sora.  I'm sorry."  

            Sora heard Riku turn around quickly on the asphalt, his sneakers sliding over the already wet surface with ease.  Riku wanted to go anywhere, get anywhere, just to be away from Sora.  Sora, who he'd just told _everything_ to, hoping he would feel the same way, if not at least understand him.  But it looked like Sora could do neither.  

            Standing out in the pouring rain, Sora was dimly aware of the fact that it was probably well past midnight by now.  Sleep, confusion, and painful sadness at what had just happened had all came falling down on Sora in the blink of an eye.  And much like the rain, Sora couldn't protect himself from it all and soon found himself practically drowning in his own thoughts.

            Turning on his heel, Sora sprinted back into his house, nearly slamming the door behind him on his way in before he noticed his mother still fast asleep on the couch.  Bryna!  What would she say about everything that had happened?  Sora could hardly even manage to keep _himself_ in check, so naturally he didn't have the slightest clue how his mom would react if he told her what had happened, nor was he eager to find out.  Closing the door behind him, Sora made his way up the stairs and into his room, mindlessly sitting on the edge of his bed.

            What was he going to do?

            _Mm... Riku._

_            Sora opened his eyes and looked around.  He'd been dozing on the beach again, but he could have sworn he'd heard Riku's voice just a moment ago.  But looking around, all Sora saw was the same old sight.  The pure white sand, sparkling clear water... But no Riku.  Usually his friend found him here eventually, but judging by the way the sun was hanging so low in the sky, something must have come up._

_            Wait!  _

_            Turning back to look at the shore more closely, Sora realized that Riku was right **there, standing out in the water.  **_

_            Sora leapt up from his relaxed position in the sand and ran towards the water's edge, wading in up to his waist before he finally reached Riku.  His friend had turned around upon hearing his approach and now had a sad smile on his face._

_            "Do you hate me, Sora?"_

_            Sora shook his head violently, brown spikes waving everywhere.  "No!  I could **never** hate you, Riku?  Why would you think that?"_

_            "You don't love me though..."_

_            Sora opened his mouth, but couldn't find the words to say.  What did he feel for Riku?  Even Sora was completely at a loss.  _

_            But looking back up at Riku, Sora instantly remembered everything about his best friend.  His best friend who, for the first time in his life, was really showing that kind of strong emotion to anyone.  _

_            The same Riku who had always stuck up for Sora when they were so much younger.  The Riku who was always joking around with him, always messing up his hair...  If anyone else ever ruffled his hair like that, Sora would go ballistic, but for some reason it was okay when Riku did it.  _

_            Riku... who was always looking at Sora **differently**, though Sora had never really been able to explain it before.  _

_            So what did **he feel for **Riku**?**_

_            Kairi and Sora, sitting up in the tree house when they'd only been  ten years old..  The memory suddenly flittered back into Sora's mind..  _

_            "Hey, Sora, aren't you going to kiss me?"_

_            "Hehe, no, of course not."_

_            "What?  How come?"_

_            "...I dunno.  It'd just feel weird."_

_            Why would it have felt weird?  Because he knew Riku?  He'd always admired him but..._

"Sora, what the hell were you _doing last night?"_

            Sora's eyes shot open, only to find his mother standing over him, hands on her hips, glaring down at her son.

            "You're going to get sick as _hell_ wearing those clothes!"  She paused, then smiled softly and added as an afterthought, "But thanks for cleaning up downstairs, you really helped me out."  Again, switching gears, "But get out of those clothes _right now!  Honestly Sora... And take a hot shower while you're at it.  I wouldn't be surprised if you got pneumonia from sleeping in those clothes."_

            Sleeping?  Glancing over at the clock on his bedside table, Sora winced.  8:17.  Yep.  Sleeping.  

            So his dream... Everything _had_ happened last night, though Sora found himself desperately wishing it hadn't.  How was he supposed to tell Riku about his dream?  About _why_ he hadn't kissed Kairi so long ago?  Riku probably wouldn't even speak to him, let alone understand...

            Glaring at the ceiling, Sora let out a disgruntled sigh.  He had to find some way to get Riku to understand.  

            Why hadn't he had this dream the night _before_?

.................................................................................................

            Okay, sort of an odd place to leave off, but I promise I'll get the next chapter done later today.  It, being Christmas Eve and all, will probably drag itself out forever, so it's not like I'll have much else to do.  ^^;;

            Quick note before I beg for reviews... Actually, a couple.  First of all, I named Sora's mom after some random girl I knew in second grade (She moved to Florida.  Quite tragic, really.) thus the name 'Bryna' doesn't sound at all Japanese.  Not the slightest.  I only named the character that because I couldn't think of anything else.  -__-

            Second note is about the whole Shakespeare thing.  That was _totally_ necessary and I wasn't just being random, I swear!  Ehhh... maybe I'm pushing myself too hard for my first fanfic.  *ponders*  Oh well!

            And the last note is just a little bit of randomness.  While writing this story, I fell asleep on my laptop (thankfully, I didn't drool on the poor thing) and had this crazy dream.  It'll probably evolve into a huge story later on, but... Not for a long, long time.  I'm still totally foreign to ff.net and I really want to wait for Connie or Becca to return from vacation to (hopefully) beta whatever I write next.

            In the meantime, consider this your holiday present from me!  Eh-whoo.  o_o

            And your holiday present to me can be a nice juicy review! ...But of course I'm not demanding or anything...  _  Only if you want to, ya know.

~Ori


	3. Wave the White Flag

            Finally.  Sorry I didn't update as soon as expected!  I especially feel guilty because of all the super nice reviews!!!  Seriously, you guys are the best!  o.O  I never thought so many people would actually _read_ this thing... But I've come up with a way to thank you readers/reviewers!  Too bad you'll just have to wait 'til the end of this story for it.  ^^;;  It really shouldn't be more then a few days until it's all wrapped up anyway, so not too long to wait.

            So here's Sora's shining moment!  ....Moment_s.  Practically the entire chapter revolves around him.  Longer note at the bottom explaining the oddness of this chapter.  XP_

.............................................................

**Polka Dots and Ribbons - Chapter Three**

'Wave the White Flag'

            "Riku, you're not listening to me!"  Sora pleaded desperately as he jogged after his friend.

            "Really Sora, what is there to talk about?"  Unlike Sora, Riku's voice was completely calm and controlled and it was this fact which probably disturbed Sora the most.

            The resolve Sora had marched out of the house with that morning was quickly crumbling away to dust as he continued to badger his friend.  At least, Sora prayed Riku was still his friend.  If he'd lost that friendship, he'd lost everything with Riku, and Sora wouldn't ever be able to forgive himself for _that.  He was having a hard enough time trying to force his voice into the words that would tell Riku..._

            _Wow, this really **is hard to do... Sora winced as he realized this, yet another layer of guilt falling over him.  **_

            Finally, Riku squeezed his eyes shut tightly before turning around to face Sora.  

            "Sora.  Please.  Can't you just leave me alone?  Please?"  Riku's voice couldn't cover up his own exhaustion and sadness.  His eyes betrayed everything to Sora, though Sora himself wished they didn't.  He'd be going on a major guilt trip for weeks all because of last night.  ...That morning... However time was figured.

            So Sora gave up.  Hands in his pockets, he trudged dejectedly back to his house, closing the door behind him with a nearly inaudible 'click.' 

            As most mothers do, however, Bryna instantly detected her son was home and, having no current customers, happily went to greet him.  He'd disappeared with a hurried goodbye that morning, so she naturally wanted to snoop around and see what had been so important that Sora would run off like that.  

            "Hey there, honey!  I--  Aw, baby what's wrong?"

            Sora hated that.  But the situation being as it was, his mother calling him 'baby' was definitely not such a big deal.  He was wordlessly dragged into the dining room, the back of his mind sighing halfheartedly as Bryna flipped the 'Open' sign on the front door to 'Closed' and ushered her son into a chair.  She promptly began bustling about the kitchen, the clinking noise of glassware being the only thing he heard for a moment.  Then Bryna gently slid a mug full of steaming liquid in front of Sora and sat down across from him at the table, her own mug in her hands.

            "It's vanilla maple.  I know it's your favorite."

            "...Thanks, Mom."

            Silence.  Bryna took a long sip from her mug.  Sora stared blankly at his, now feeling guilty for his mother's efforts to _make the tea, when he really didn't feel like drinking it.  __I don't deserve it anyway._

            "...So, you wanna tell me what's wrong?"

            "..."  Sora bit down on his lip, suddenly very interested in the rim of his mug.  

            "Come on, Sora..."

            Three mugs of tea later, Sora's mother stared at her son in absolute astonishment.  By no means was she horrified at Sora's feelings towards Riku, it didn't really surprise her in the first place, but it was how Sora had reacted when Riku had come to talk to him last night.  And, although she'd never admit it to Sora, she didn't have the slightest clue what to do.  

            "So what should I do?"

            Hm.  She'd known that question was coming.

            "...I don't know.  I don't think I can answer it for you.  What do you feel like doing?"  Granted, that advice hadn't come out exactly the way she'd wanted it to, but what better advice could a single forty year old mother give in that kind of situation?

            Sora grinned for a second, a flash of his normal self resurfacing.  "I feel like shoving the boy against a wall and kissing him the life out of him."

            Bryna blinked.  "Thaaat was information I probably could've lived without."  Smiling, Bryna nodded once at her son.  "Well, I think you should do whatever you think it'll take to get Riku back.  ...Not the wall thing.  But..."

            "But?"

            "Riku's a proud kid, Sora.  It took major guts to do what he did and you didn't even acknowledge his feelings for you.  He probably isn't going to listen to whatever you have to say and I don't think he's one to forgive and forget easily."  She took a last sip from the mug cradled in her hands before getting up from her chair.  "You scarred his self image pretty badly, you know."

           Taking Sora's empty mug from him, she walked out to the kitchen with them in her arms, speaking over her shoulder.  "But then again, I'm old!  What do I know anyway?"

            By the time Bryna had rinsed out the mugs and returned to the dining room, Sora was nowhere in sight.  Leaning against the wall, she grinned broadly.  

            "Go get him, Sora."

~~~

            Sora rocked back and forth anxiously on his heels outside of Kairi's house.  No doubt she was blaring some pop music or something in her room.  Her parents would probably have a hell of a time trying to get in contact with their daughter.  He had absolutely no intention of telling Kairi what had happened between Riku and him.  It wasn't that the three of them weren't close enough friends.  It was simply that Kairi was more then likely to blab something about it to Selphie and once Selphie knew... well, _everyone_ knew.  Sora just wasn't sure if he wanted word to get around about it before he was ready.  And he definitely wasn't ready.

            "Hey, Sora!  What's up?"  The perky teenage girl bounded down her front steps, coming to a halt in front of Sora.  

            "Kairi!  Okay, I have a huge favor to ask you..."

"...Okay, Sora, already I'm starting to freak out.  What is it you want?"  Kairi raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips, looking up at Sora.

            _Okay, possibly not the best way to ask for help..._

            "I just need you to get everyone you know and have them go over to Riku's house tonight at... um... ten.  Yeah.  Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, _everyone we know needs to be there!  Oh, and I also need a ladder.  You have a ladder, right?  I think your dad used one when he built that tree house a while ago... Oh yeah, origami paper!  Need that too!  And Christmas lights.  Do you have any Christmas ligh--"_

            "_Sora!_"

            "What?"

            Kairi gaped at him, her eyes wide.  "What on earth are you planning on doing??  It'd better not be another one of those, 'Let's have a co-ed sleepover at Riku's house while his parents are away' ideas, because my parents were totally furious about that."

            Sora shook his head, spiky brown hair waving wildly back and forth.  "Nonono!  It's not like that...  Please, Kairi, I just really need a ladder.  If you don't have origami paper, well, that's okay... Just the ladder?  Please?"  _Puppy eye mode: activated_.

            Never being one who could resist one of Sora's pleading looks, Kairi sighed, shaking her head.  

            "Well I dunno what you're planning Sora, but... Okay.  The ladder's just around back.  I'll start getting in touch with people about meeting up at Riku's house.  Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

            Sora was already headed towards Kairi's back yard.  Looking over his shoulder at his friend, he grinned and waved one hand dismissively.  "Stupid?  Who ever said I was planning something _stupid?"_

            ~~~

            _So... tired...  It wasn't exactly easy walking through town carrying a ladder three times his size, and Sora was also frantically looking around for any sign of Riku.  He didn't want to older boy to get at all suspicious, just in case Riku decided he would flat out refuse to see Sora like he planned, in which case all of Sora's efforts would be in vain._

            During the walk back to his house, Sora had been mulling over what he was going to do now that he no longer had access to either Christmas lights or origami paper.  Granted, he'd known his entire plan was a little far fetched, but it would be worth it.  Sora could only hope that it would at least get him one step closer to making things up to Riku.  _Or making **out with Riku**.  **Abandoning the more... 'easily sidetracked' portion of his brain for the moment, Sora turned to walk up towards his house, finally setting the ladder up against the side of the small building, sighing with relief.**_

            Tearing into the house, Sora cursed vividly in his head.  He still needed to take a shower and finish his preparations as well as make it across town to Riku's house before nine.  He wanted to be there far before anyone else showed up so he would have enough time to get everything ready before people began gathering.  Bryna had said that it would probably take Riku a long time to forgive Sora, if he even forgave him at all. No doubt that evening would be... well, it was certainly going to be something to remember.

            _But if it can give Riku back to me, it's worth it._

            "Mom, I was wondering if I could have... ah... some ribbon."

            Bryna blinked up at him, pulling herself away from her current customer's hair for the moment.

            "Umm, Sora, I thought you hated those stupid things."

            "I do!  I mean, ya know, I _did.  There's nothing __wrong with them."_

            Bryna smirked, giving a quick apology to the man in the chair in front of her, moving over to her vast collection of ribbon spools.  "Okay, Hun, how much do you need?"

            Trying to act innocent, Sora looked around the room.  "Erm... An entire... you know... A whole package of it?" 

            "...You want an entire spool of ribbon."

            "Yes?"

            "...I'm not even gonna ask."  Sighing, Bryna rifled through the selection before coming to the most simple and yet most 'interesting' ribbon she owned.  She snickered as she pulled out the roll of ribbon and placed it in her son's waiting hands.

            Dark blue.  With white polka-dots.  It was, without a doubt, the most tacky looking ribbon Sora had ever set eyes on.  But at the same time, he whole heartedly believed that it was absolutely perfect.

            "It's great Mom, thanks," Sora said with a grin before darting upstairs, leaving Bryna to finish her hair cut in peace as well as leaving her to ponder what exactly it was that her son was planning.

 An later, Sora was out of his shower and frantically running around his room looking for an apparently missing blue tank top.  As it was, he was wandering around his room in a pair of black shorts, completely and utterly shirtless, and he didn't exactly have the time to go through a more thorough search of his room for the missing garment.  Thankfully, Sora let out a delighted squeal as he pounced upon the blue fabric sticking out from under his bed.  The poor thing had probably fallen under there shortly after Bryna had placed a clean load of laundry on his bed.

            Tugging the tank top over his head, Sora sifted through masses of other clothes strewn across his bed to find the ribbon his mother had given him earlier.  Next to the spool of ribbons was an old box Sora had managed to dig out of the garage labeled 'paupu' in large bold letters.  

            When Sora had found the box, he'd been nearly unable to contain a dance of joy.  What were the chances that his mother had once upon a time collected paupu trinkets as a hobby and just happened to have an entire box of the old things lying around in the garage?  ...Not very good chances, but somehow Sora had managed to get his hands on them anyway!  Who needed paper cranes when Sora could have paupu ornaments?  It wasn't exactly like Sora was gifted when it came to paper folding anyway.

            Stowing the spool of ribbon in the box and tucking said box under his arm, Sora hopped down the stairs two at a time, nearly tripping himself up on the last few steps, but nonetheless landing upright when he hit the bottom.  Checking the clock in the hallway, Sora smiled.  It was only 8:10, giving him plenty of time to make the twenty minute hike up to Riku's house.  Looking over into the living room, he wasn't at all surprised to find his mother lying asleep on the couch.  Or at least, he'd thought she was asleep.

            Reaching for the handle on the front door, Sora heard his mom speak, able to tell she was smiling even though he couldn't see her face.

            "Good luck, Sora."

            "Wha??"  Sora blinked back over at the couch in surprise.  

            "I said good luck, you dummy."

            "O-oh.  Thanks... Thanks, Mom.  Really."

            "Anytime.  Just turn the light off on your way out or I'll stop letting you use my girly shampoo."

            "What?!"  How had his mother been able to know he'd been using the cucumber melon shampoo for the past three months?  Well... Alright, so the untouched bottle of his own shampoo might have been a good hint.  It wasn't Sora's fault he liked the smell of the _other_ shampoo.

            Muttering to himself as he turned the light off in the living room and headed out the door, Sora wondered what kind of shampoo Riku used.  _Whoa.  Better back up.  _Shaking his head to clear his mind, Sora walked around to the side of the house and blinked at the ladder before letting out a loud sigh.  Walking this thing to Riku's was going to be just so much fun.

...........................................................................

            Whoo!  Okay, this is officially a really bad chapter.  -__-  I just thought I needed to go and point out everything it was that Sora did so that when I made the jump from point A to point B, I wouldn't get so many weird looks.  Oh well, looks like this chapter only managed to raise more questions.  I myself am still wondering what exactly Sora is planning on _doing_ with the ribbon, and I'm the writer!  ...Just kidding.  Haha.  Yes.  

            So I know this chapter seemed rushed and jumpy, but I sort of wanted the jumpy part.  It's supposed to start making you wonder what the hell Sora's up to, but I don't know if it really worked out.  But to make up for the icky way this chapter was written, I decided _not_ to leave everyone confused and just write out the next chapter and post them at the same time!  Yaaay.  The next chapter is much, much better.  And pulls everything together.  Finally.  

~Ori


	4. When Sorry Doesn't Cut It

            As promised, here's the next chapter!  I didn't feel right about leaving off on that note after the last chapter being so poorly written (I'm sorry!) so I posted two at the same time.  And now feel like a productive little beaver.  So without ado, here ya go!

**Polka Dots and Ribbons - Chapter Four**

'When Sorry Doesn't Cut It' 

            As Kairi had promised, there was a fair sized crowd gathered in Riku's backyard as the hour drew close to ten.  No one knew where on earth Sora had gone off to, but they all were sure he'd been there.  Who else would have decorated the backyard, especially in such ridiculous fashion?

            Long lengths of ribbon stretched from several pine trees in Riku's backyard, all gathering together around one window of the house in a large bow.  Along the ribbon appeared to be small glowing yellow blobs, but if stared at long enough, it became obvious that the 'blobs' were actually hordes of miniature paupu fruits scattered along the ribbon.  And everyone there got a kick out of that ribbon.  It wasn't every day you got to see the very evidence that, yes, the most idiotic things in that world hadn't disappeared over the years.  

            Tidus, Selphie, and Kairi all sat under one of the several palm trees, each of them looking around for Sora.  The crowd was relatively quiet, not quite willing to risk waking any of the house's inhabitants up, since none of them really knew what they were all gathered there for in the first place.

            Trying to make idle conversation, Kairi turned to Tidus, who was busy amusing himself by balancing a blitzball on the tip of one finger.  "Have you seen Yuffie anywhere?  I asked her to show up, but..."

            "Yo, Sora!  You finally sho--  Whoa, what are you _wearing_?"

            Kairi, Tidus, and company all turned around at the sound of the voice to find Wakka staring at none other then Sora.  But... Small snickers arose from the crowd, full blown laughter from some, for there stood Sora in the most interesting attire.  

            Still wearing his black shorts and blue tank top, it looked as though Sora had gotten into a wrestling match with the absurd polka-dotted ribbon and lost.  Severely.  The same kind of blue and white ribbons that were used to hang the paupu ornaments now adorned Sora's arms, winding around and around before finally tying into a bow up by his shoulders.  A large bow of the polka-dotted ribbon even adorned his neck, the bow hanging down off to the side, as well as several pieces of ribbon tied around his waist, more miniature (and of course, unlit) paupus adorning the makeshift belts.  All of it was accompanied by Sora's standard grin on his face, despite the jaw gaped looks he was receiving.

            _Oh boy, Riku, you'd better see this._

            As if on cue, a window in the house cracked open and inside Riku peered out, eyes widening as he took in the scene below his window.  What on earth was Sora doing?

            Glancing around the crowd, Sora nodded happily.  Plenty of people, though not too many and no one he didn't know.  He'd have to make sure to thank Kairi later.  Sora's scan of the crowd eventually wandered over to where the streams of ribbons above them were gathered, the window beneath them, opened and sure enough, Riku was peering out at them. 

            _Perfect!_

            Whatever ego Sora had built up for himself, flew out the window as he made eye contact with Yuffie, who was standing off to the side of the crowd, a control switch in her hand and at the ready.  Grinning, Yuffie pulled the switch as Sora began to talk, the PA system Yuffie had set up earlier upon Sora's request working perfectly.  

            "Hey everybody!  I guess you'll all wanna know why I had Kairi drag you guys here..." Sora began.

            "And why you're dressed up as the paupu pixie, yep."  That was from Tidus, naturally, and several people around him chuckled at the remark.

            "Haha, thanks, Tidus.  Ugh.  Anyway, I just have something really important to tell you all that I think you should hear.  Then you can run on back home and spend the rest of your Friday night doing whatever normally dirty things you all do."

            This brought more laughter from the small group of people and Sora had made his way over to the foot of Riku's house, where Kairi's ladder was laying on the ground.  Pausing a moment to reach down and pull the ladder up, Sora then carefully leaned it up against Riku's house, leading directly up to his window, surrounded by the paupu ornaments and lights.  

            Leaning against the foot of the ladder, Sora continued to talk.  "Most of you all probably have boyfriends or girlfriends or whatever.  Well, I don't.  Big deal, right?  Okay, right.  Only...  It's not that I _don't_ like anybody."

            Sora paused, suddenly becoming nervous under all the pressure.  Probably half of the crowd there could guess at what Sora was getting at, but the other half remained clueless.  Looking up at Riku, Sora grinned before turning back to continue talking to the small throng of people in front of him.

            "As a matter of fact, I dragged you all here tonight just so you could find out who that person is!"  

            Everyone gathered below watched intently as Sora scampered up the ladder towards Riku's window, and listened intently, trying to pick up on the conversation.  Sora, however, had covered up the small microphone Yuffie had attached to his shirt as he conversed with his silver haired friend.

            "What the _hell are you __doing, Sora?"  Riku stared at the boy outside his window in wide eyed amazement.  _

            "Putting my entire social life on the line in a feeble attempt to apologize and declare my ever undying affection for you at the same time?"

            Riku laughed.  "So what are you, my Romeo?"

            "Hell yeah.  I don't exactly read Shakespeare because it's a page a minute thriller."  Sora paused, uncovering the small microphone so the PA system could pick up his voice again.  "And... you idiot... I'm trying to ask you to be my boyfriend, here."

            There it was.  If Riku still hadn't forgiven Sora and if his own pride had been so badly wounded, Sora had just given his life long rival the golden opportunity of tearing him down.  Not only that, but the entire island would probably soon find out about Sora's infatuation, so everything was now in Riku's lap, waiting to be dealt with.  The group gathered below Riku's window stared up at the two boys in amazement at what Sora had just said.  Some smiled, some beamed, and some just flat out gaped, but there was no disgust in that crowd.

            When Riku finally did speak, his voice was loud enough to be heard over the PA. 

            "No."

            _No...  Ouch._

            Sora's eyes threatened to build up with tears at any second.  "N--"

            "Hold it Sora, you didn't let me finished.  No, you can't ask me to be your boyfriend, _I'm_ supposed to ask _you_, moron."  Reaching out over the windowsill to cover Sora's microphone with his own hand, Riku leaned over and said in a quieter tone, "Because that gives me dibs on being on top, of course."  Releasing his grip on the microphone, Riku grinned at the brilliant tinge of pink Sora's face was taking on.  

            "So what do you say, Sora?"

            "Thank you!"  Sora nearly tipped the ladder over as he wrapped his arms around Riku's neck, regardless of the wall mostly separating them.  

            "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of a 'Yes, Riku!', but I guess a thank you works too."  Riku smirked and peered over Sora's shoulder at the grinning crowd of people below.  

            Selphie let out a loud suggestive whistle which sent everyone down on the ground bursting into laughter and clapping, also accompanied by a well deserved series of cheers.  

~~~

            Kairi leaned against the ladder, looking up at Sora who was still at the top of the ladder several minutes after everyone had left.  

            She smiled up at her two friends, Riku, who also hadn't moved from his spot by the window.  "How come you guys never told me?"

            Sora looked down and blinked at Kairi.  Unsure of how to respond, he looked back at Riku who in turn paused to think.

            "We were just... waiting for the opportune moment."

            Kairi laughed and turned to go, speaking to her friends over her shoulder.  "Well I'd say that was it.  Pretty cool of you, Sora, to be willing to do that in front of all those people.  ...I'd never be able to."

            Once Kairi left, Sora turned to look at Riku.  "Bleh, pretty cool of me?  Do you _know_ how terrible I felt?"

            "Oh, I think I can imagine."  And with that, Riku leaned out over the windowsill and easily pulled Sora off of the ladder and through the window.  Settling the younger boy on his lap, Riku took a good look at Sora before bursting into laughter.

            "Hey!  What's so funny?!"  Sora scowled at Riku, turning his head around to face him.

            "What... are you _wearing_?"  Riku beamed and flicked at one of the several bows adorning Sora's all-too-interesting ensemble and snickered.

            "Well duh, the paupus are supposed to be my stupid sign of affection!  Even Wakka could probably have figured _that_ out.  And besides, I thought it would be a humbling experience."

            "So was it?"  Riku pulled Sora's body closer to him, resting his chin on top of the younger boy's spiky hair.

            "More then you could ever possibly know.  I never want to see another polka dot or stupid ribbon again in my life."  Sora smiled, leaning in to nuzzle Riku's neck.  _Mm, hey, he uses cucumber melon shampoo too... Who would've thought?  _

            "Hey, I like the ribbons, they make you look sexy."

            "I thought I was just cute?"

            Riku laughed and ruffled Sora's hair.  "No way.  You're totally sexy."

            The two boys were quite content just snuggling up next to each other for a long time before Sora blinked up at Riku innocently.

            "Think my mom'll mind me spending the night over here?"

            Riku merely grinned in response.

..............................................................

            And that's a wrap!  Fill in the blanks from there... Ehehehe.  It may _seem _like a weird place to end a story, but I like it ending there.  Anyway, I've completed my dinky little story and, though I'm not _really_ happy with it, I'm actually surprised it didn't turn out to be the total bust I'd expected it to be!  As a thank you for the reviews, I'm planning on making a little illustration of Sora to accompany this particular fic, and I should have a link to it posted in my profile shortly.  ^^

            I also just wanted to point out that several of the ideas of the 'opportune moment' are blatantly Pirates of the Caribbean derived.  XD  Did you catch them?  I think there's a couple of 'em throughout the entire story...  But I didn't exactly keep count.  The Romeo and Juliet bit also played it's little one-line role in this chapter.  So did that seemingly random bit about Sora's shampoo.  I blame these random things on my lack of sleep, really.  ...Okay, so it was entirely my fault.  Nevermiiind! Oh yes.  And I wasn't at all sure of the proper spelling of 'paupus.'  It looks funny to me.  Drat.

            So, as a last little note, I'd like to send a big thanks to all the readers and reviewers out there for checking out my very first fanfic!  Hopefully I'll have the guts to make more now... I think.  ; 

~Ori


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